Warsaw. Residents and councilors defend the Eco Park

10 years ago, a development plan was prepared for Ursus, which assumed the relocation of the existing Gierdziejewskiego Street. In this way, the Eco Park would be enlarged – trees would be planted in the “corridor” of the old road, as well as in the place of the bazaar.

He disagrees with this assumption, among others. district councilor from the Safe and Zielony Ursus association, Krzysztof Daukszewicz, who emphasized that in order to actually enlarge the park, the existing bazaar would have to be liquidated. And this will result in protests from residents. The bazaar would be moved to the vicinity of the Factory shopping center.

According to the councilor, building a new Gierdziejewskiego street would cost 10,000 square meters of greenery, including about 200 old trees. – In return, the old road will be removed and in its place, perhaps in the future, trees will be planted – said Daukszewicz.

He emphasized that according to the plans, as long as former industrial plants operate on the old Gierdziejewskiego Street, this street cannot be closed down because it constitutes access to these plots, so it is not known when the trees would actually be planted there.

– The paradox of this investment can be described in one sentence: let's build a road where there is a park, and let's build a park in place of the old road – said Michał Sutyniec from the Safe and Zielony Ursus Association.

He noted that the park is a meeting place for many generations of Ursus residents. – Cutting down such a number of trees is carried out, among others, by: to a climate catastrophe. We owe this piece of greenery to our children, he added.

He reminded that the investment involves the liquidation of the bazaar, which is also a very important place for local residents. – Everything has its place there. The road is in the place of the road, the park is in the place of the park, and the bazaar is in the place of the bazaar. And the residents like it, there is no need to change it, said Sutyniec.

The mayor of Ursus, Bogdan Olesiński, spoke on the matter and emphasized that there was no threat to the Eco Park. – The councilors' proposal is to leave a park with an area of ​​2.2 hectares instead of 6 hectares. Residents will decide what is better for them, he added.

The mayor explained that the route of the new street Gierdziejewskiego never passed through Eco Park, because the park's design assumed that it would lie on both sides of the new route of Gierdziejewskiego Street, and that's why a reserve area was left where the trees grew on their own. He emphasized that the district had never planted any trees along the new Gierdziejewskiego Street, because it had been known for years that a road was planned there.

– In 10-15 years, this planned road will serve 35,000 people – a housing estate where only six thousand people currently live. You cannot refer to what is now and design the street for now, because its route will not accommodate such a number of people. He noted that as a district, it is seeking a metro line, but before this happens, at least to improve bus transport, it is necessary to ensure safe entry and exit from the estate, Olesiński emphasized.

He explained that self-seeded trees grow in the reserve area for the new Gierdziejewskiego route. – It will be reviewed by specialists and those trees that are familiar to our vegetation and suitable for replanting will be replanted. The remaining ones are removed and this happens with every investment, he added. He said that trees would be planted in place of the bazaar and these would be native trees. – We cannot look at the fact that the construction of every road is a threat. After all, these roads are built for our safety, he emphasized.

District councilors together with councilors of the Left, Miasto Jest Nasze submitted a petition to the capital city hall, signed by over two thousand people. There are three main demands: conduct traffic analyzes to check whether the new road alignment will actually improve anything in terms of road traffic in the area, or whether the road can be routed along other corridors. First of all, along the old corridor. And also whether the benefit from the existence of 200 large trees is greater than from the existence of small trees planted in the future at a greater cost (removal of old asphalt, disposal of it, removal of layers, post-industrial pollution).

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